Survivor Planet III

by Juliet Cardin

  But not for long.

  Creeping out from the edges of my psyche were those visions I vaguely remembered. A dove, a forest, a bright light. Then more quickly; deadly laser bolts flashing from steel weapons, strange human-like creatures, some with wings. Death.

  Hands were on me, urging me to sit up. But I was already sitting up, wasn’t I? Hazy faces materialized before me. A sharp pin prick in my arm.

  “We need her up. Now!” a man said sharply.

  “Amanda! You need to wake up. We’re under attack.” That was Ayres.

  Attack? From who? Why would Ayres sound so concerned? Wasn’t he a warrior?

  I shook my head, fighting the nausea and dizziness. My hands reached out and came in contact with a huge, hard chest. I felt leather beneath my hands and clung to it.

  “They’re practically on top of us. They must have seen our ship,” the other man said.

  Slowly my mind began to focus.

  “Roamyn?” Ayres demanded.

  “I can’t tell from here. I’d have to go up to the surface. It’s only showing me three small ships. They’ve fired on our ship though.”

  “Damn it!” Ayres again.

  I scrubbed at my face with my hands trying to force myself to revive. There was trouble. I needed to wake up. A strong hand went around my waist helping me to stand.

  “They’re landing.”

  Though he kept merging from one image into two, I focused on Ayres. “I’m out. Damn, what a mind fuck that is.”

  Ayres grinned. “She’s back.”

  “Good. We’re gonna need her.”

  Both men now had their eyes trained on a small monitor off to my right.

  “Not Roamyn,” Ayres said. “Hell. Akkadians.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “God damn filthy snot suckers,” Lourde snapped.

  “That good, eh?” I couldn’t help but smile.

  Despite the danger, all I felt was relief. It was good to be back.

  Chapter 13

  The three of us slunk through the winding corridors of the tunnels, making our way up to the surface. Our plan was to leave the cave from one of the few exits we’d uncovered, hopefully coming up behind the Akkadians and catching them unawares. First, we’d booby-trapped the main exits, rigging them with powerful explosives that’d annihilate anyone unfortunate enough to trip the wires. The aliens already knew from our ship that we were here. They’d soon figure out we were a force to be reckoned with. From the small portable monitor Lourde held in his hand I knew he was gauging the movements of the enemy above.

  Slung over our shoulders and strapped to our hips and legs were several weapons. Ayres held a duffle bag in each hand, containing a veritable arsenal to use in our defense. Along the way he filled me in on the vile creatures that were the Roamyn’s sworn enemy.

  I did my best to pay attention, despite the fact that only a short time before I’d been in an entirely different world, experiencing a whole other set of problems. Try as I might to focus on the here and now, I couldn’t quite shake off the recesses of Lara’s life. Her fears had been mine, and only now that we were separated could I process all that I’d taken in. Lara had no idea of the horror awaiting her in the tournament on Taleon.

  But I knew it all too well.

  We finally came to a halt several feet from an opening to the outside. Covered over by vines and brush I knew it to be virtually invisible from the other side. Lourde paced, his eyes darting between the exit and the screen monitor.

  “We can go out there and do some damage, but we can’t guarantee success. If they get in here and find the room, all of this will have been for nothing.”

  Ayres gave him a grim look, his grip on a lethal looking short-handled, steel battle-axe that shot laser bolts. “I plan on doing a lot more than just some damage.” He fixed his stern gaze on me. “You’re to stay in here and protect the door. Do not fire and draw attention to yourself unless you’re forced to.”

  I nodded. While on Taseeus, he and Aris had endlessly drilled me on weapon use and hand to hand combat in the weeks before we left. Though I lacked the strength of a warrior, Ayres had assured me I was beginning to make up for it in skill. The biggest threat we faced right now was the fact we only had one true warrior among us. As if reading my mind, Ayres said, “If only my brother were here.”

  Lourde’s head jerked up as though he’d been slapped. “What’d you say?”

  “You heard me,” Ayres snapped.

  He was always snarky when in warrior mode I’d come to learn.

  Lourde shoved the monitor into my hands and began digging through his pockets. “I know I have it somewhere. Bloody hell!” Then his face lit up. “Ah! Yes. Here it is. Almost forgot about it.”

  “Unless you’ve got a warrior in your pocket then I don’t see what all the damn fuss is about,” Ayres snarled.

  “But that’s just the thing! I do have a warrior in my pocket. Well, not really in my pocket, but…”

  He pulled his hand from his pants and held up pinched fingers, waving them before my face. “What is it?” I couldn’t make out what he was braying about, the object was too tiny.

  “One of the many things I was in the midst of working on when I was forced to leave Calixtus was this…” He put a tiny copper-looking object that he’d been pinching into the palm of his other hand, displaying it before our eyes.

  “It looks like a tiny penny,” I said.

  “Exactly. In fact, it fits into a larger coin. There are actually two pieces that can be extracted from the whole. Unfortunately, in my haste, I lost one of the pieces when I escaped Calixtus. “

  “So what?” Ayres demanded.

  Lourde gave him a haughty look. “So, this is your brother. Well, not exactly your brother, but it can bring him to us.”

  Ayres shook his head in disgust. “You’ve completely lost your mind.”

  “Not at all. In fact, it’s quite ingenious, I must admit. And I am thrilled to take full credit for this little creation. Though, unfortunately it’s the only one of its kind. But it does work, I assure you. I’ve tried it out myself with favorable results.”

  “What exactly does it do?” I asked. I was beginning to become as anxious and irritable as Ayres. The monitor was showing three ships had landed and at least four Akkadians had exited each one. They were spreading out and I feared it would only be a matter of time before all hell broke loose.

  “Before I escaped to Taseeus, I made a pit stop on Earth. While there I sought out your brother, Kenix.” Before Ayres or I could interrupt, Lourde rushed on with his explanation. “I’d heard from my sources that he was on Earth and where exactly to find him.”

  I could tell by the look on Ayres face that he didn’t appreciate that bit of information.

  “Fearing that your brother may one day face danger such as I was facing, I tried to convince him to come with me. If I could discover his whereabouts, how long would it take for others? Anyway, you know how stubborn he is. Having quite the time there, I fear.” He shook his head and chuckled. “He refused to leave, so I did what I could for him and left him with the larger part of this coin.”

  “What exactly does the coin do?” I repeated.

  “One of my best inventions! The Cointos–C-o-i-n-t-o-s,” he spelled. “Coin is self explanatory, t-o-s stands for The Other Side. It’s a coin with two circular pieces embedded in it that come apart. I gave the coin to Kenix, keeping the remaining small piece for myself. When I rub this piece thrice, it’ll pull whoever holds it—in this case, Kenix—across space to me. Hopefully, he’ll have heeded my advice and kept the coin on him at all times.”

  “Holy shit, that’s cool!” I had to admit.

  “And that’s not all,” Lourde said. “Kenix can also use the coin in his possession to move around the Earth as he wishes in the mean time. All he has to do is—”

  Suddenly the ground rumbled and an explosion sounded.

  “That’ll really piss them off,” I said, viewing t
he monitor. The three of us stared at the screen displaying the carnage. It appeared only two Akkadian’s fell prey to our trap at one of the entryways, but now it was completely blocked off. Four more Akkadian’s warily explored the damage and then quickly set off to find an alternative way in.

  “Rub the damn thing. We’re running out of time,” Ayres demanded.

  “As you wish,” Lourde assented. He plucked the tiny coin up between his thumb and finger once more and rubbed it three times. Then, he waved his arms indicating we should make some room. Recalling the size of Kenix, I stepped back even farther.

  The air crackled a bit as though filled with static energy. Next, sparkling particles began swirling like a mini tornado in the space before Lourde. In the next moment the number of particles increased to the point that a shape could be made out. It took only seconds before Kenix completely materialized before us.

  “Holy shit,” Ayres and I exclaimed in unison.

  Chapter 14

  Kenix stared down at his hands before putting them up to his face. Then he reached down with one hand and felt the crotch of his pants. Seeming relieved, he stared around at his new surroundings. “I’m always afraid I’ll lose something important when that happens.”

  Ayres stepped forward and they clasped forearms in greeting. “It’s good to see you, brother,” he said.

  Kenix nodded at Lourde and then at me. “Good to see all of you. Now, where the hell are we?”

  “Taleon,” Ayres informed him.

  “Taleon?” Kenix snapped. “What are you doing here? You’re all supposed to be on Taseeus.”

  “Look, there’s time for explanations later. Right now I need you to help me kill some Akkadians. Are you in?”

  “Of course I’m in,” Kenix said.

  Ayres opened the bags at his feet and the pair began arming themselves. Once they were ready, Ayres kissed me hard. “Remember what I said.”

  I nodded.

  With his brother’s arrival, the need for Lourde’s help decreased. Ayres instructed him to stay with me and help guard the entrance.

  Kenix held up the coin he’d dug out from the pocket of his jeans. “Let me show you what this little baby can do.” He flipped the coin right outside the exit of the tunnel. In the next instant he was gone. Vaporized. But before Ayres and I could gasp in surprise and Lourde could chuckle in glee, we saw Kenix suddenly part the hanging vines on the other side of the entryway, holding the coin up in the air. He pocketed the coin, giving us a wink.

  “That’s what I was trying to explain,” Lourde said. “It’s the perfect escape—a personal transporter. You toss it ahead of you, materialize, snap it up and toss it again. Faster than running. Or say you need to get past a door, or over a barrier, or to the bottom of a cliff…”

  “We get it,” Ayres interrupted. “Well done,” he acknowledged.

  Lourde preened like a peacock.

  “Got me out of some sticky situations on Earth,” Kenix admitted. “Nothing like the morning after…” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

  “Yeah, we get it,” I said. “Don’t you have some aliens to kill?”

  Ayres kissed me again and headed out, Kenix hot on his heels. Lourde and I kept watch as best we could from our position.

  * * * *

  It was dark out, so I figured Ayres and I had been under for quite some time. It was the most time I’d ever spent in Lara’s mind, and I’d felt the bond between us grow even stronger. Not a good thing perhaps, considering she was as good as dead once we got her to do our dirty work.

  Off in the distance, laser bolts lit up the sky, flashing off rocks and trees, leaving scorch marks, the sight of which made me shiver in memory of the cabin door back on Earth. From the amount of weapons the guys were packing I wasn’t too concerned with their safety. If anything, Ayres had made the Akkadian’s out to be more of a nuisance than a threat. Besides, according to the monitor, where we could practically watch a play by play of the action, it appeared that the green blobs were down from twelve to seven. Pretty good odds for two giant warriors to handle.

  But then we saw two more ships arriving.

  Unfortunately, they were directly in our range of sight which meant when they landed and disembarked, they would be able to use the same tactic the guys had used; coming up behind their target and catching them unaware.

  “Fuckers,” I couldn’t help but mutter. “Time to get our hands dirty.”

  Lourde nodded and swallowed hard.

  Heading outside the mouth of the tunnel, we kept our backs against the wall of the stone hill letting the thick foliage conceal our presence. Our eyes remained on the ships as they flew in low and landed.

  “Wait for them to get out and let them pass us,” I said. That way we would keep behind the invaders and place them smack in the middle of our motley group.

  “What the hell?” Lourde suddenly exclaimed.

  His eyes weren’t on the monitor that he had attached to a strap on his belt just in case he had need of both his hands. He was staring at the ships. Peering through the darkness, which had grown gloomy thanks to a spattering of rain that’d begun to fall, I saw something huge creeping amongst the thickening fog. The Akkadians themselves were relatively large creatures; green, with long-limbs, hunchbacked, and long-faced. Ayres description hadn’t done them justice, the ugly bastards.

  Three Akkadians had disembarked from one of the ships, two had come out of the other one. I focused on the pair who appeared to be holding a long chain attached to a black creature twice the size of them. A giant collar was around its thick neck. The beast walked on two legs, was covered in shiny metallic-like skin, and had long front arms with giant claws—clearly visible even from a distance.

  “What is that thing?” I asked.

  “Damned if I know,” Lourde replied. “They must have picked it up from somewhere in the galaxy. What a hideous creature.”

  “Check the monitor, see how the guys are doing now. Are the odds any better?”

  Lourde peered at his screen for a moment. “Appears they’re down another Akkadian.”

  “With this group, that puts the enemy at eleven, plus a giant beast.” Hopefully no more enemy aliens would disembark.

  “I wonder what the hell they’re even doing here. They know this is prime Calixtus territory. They really have some balls.”

  “Do you think it may have something to do with the tournament coming up?” I asked.

  “Possibly. If they set up a base here and kept out of sight they could probably make a mess out of the game. Really stir things up.”

  “You’d think they wouldn’t want to risk it.” The thought of anyone intentionally picking a fight with Roamyns would be sheer folly.

  “Yes, well, they’re not known for their great intelligence.”

  Considering they had greater technology than humans I figured they couldn’t be as dumbass as Lourde suggested.

  “We need to warn the guys.” As the newest mob began lumbering toward their cohorts to join the battle I bit my bottom lip in concentration. If only we could even the odds a little.

  “I’ve got an idea,” I said. “I need you to keep an eye on Kenix; can you tell the two apart on the monitor?”

  “I believe so. Ayres is the slightly larger of the two.”

  “Okay, you’ll need to see when he looks ready to fire. And I’ll need that coin in your pocket.”

  Lourde narrowed his gaze at me. “What are you planning?”

  “Trust me. It’s probably better you don’t know.”

  Chapter 15

  I tucked the coin in my pocket and told Lourde to stay put. He argued of course, but I reminded him the prime objective was to keep the equipment safe. If the equipment survived but we didn’t, our plans would screech to a halt anyway, but I wasn’t about to remind him of this fact. No doubt he’d figure it out momentarily. By this point both sets of Akkadians had passed us, so before Lourde could object I pulled the long skinny ray gun off my shoulder and began
to jog.

  Coming up behind the enemy I began picking them off one by one as quickly as I could. I focused on the group of three, considering the group of two had their hands full controlling the beast they led. I took them down, relieved they were as slow and clumsy as Ayres had said, all the while silently praying no other aliens had exited the new ships and would come up behind me. I had to have faith that Lourde would cover my back. By now the other two Akkadians had turned round and were fumbling for their weapons. The beast gave them a run for their money, becoming crazed by all the laser bolts flying around. In the confusion I crept as close as I dared. In order for my plan to work I had to move forward. My shots were pretty wild at this point—being fired on in return now, I had to duck and zigzag to keep out of the enemies range.

  The beast’s arms flailed about as though it swiped at an invisible enemy. Its head tilted back and it lifted its snout to sniff the air. Then it lowered its gaze and stared directly at me. It charged suddenly, pulling the Akkadians off their feet making them land hard on their bellies in the dirt. Seeing them go down I no longer gave them my attention; instead I focused it all on the huge monster barreling toward me, chain dangling behind it. I fired again and again, but just as I’d feared, the bolts bounced off the shiny armor-like skin. I only had time to drop and roll before it would have charged right over me. I kept rolling and then scrambled up onto my hands and knees. I felt the beast step on the back of my foot forcing me to roll over onto my rear end. My weapon lay out of reach, for all the good it’d done me. I scrambled to pull the coin from my pocket.

  “Now?” I screamed to Lourde. He’d come out into the open, his eyes flashing between the monitor and me.

  “Now!” he cried back, just in the nick of time.

  As the beast bent down its great ugly head and roared in my face displaying three rows of razor sharp teeth, I rubbed the tiny coin three times and tossed it right in its mouth to the back of its throat. It closed its massive jaws and I swear I saw it gulp before it roared at me again.

  I covered my head, promising anything and everything to the universe in that moment if I survived. Seconds later I heard a rumble and then a mini explosion. Guts, slime, gore and blood rained down and covered me as Kenix, weapon blazing, blew out of the centre of the monster.